Information from www.eatwild.com
Free Range Eggs Nutritionally Superior
As it turns out, all those choices of eggs at your supermarket aren't providing you much of a choice at all.
Recent tests conducted by Mother Earth News magazine have shown once again that eggs from chickens that range freely on pasture provide clear nutritional benefits over eggs from confinement operations.
Mother Earth News collected samples from 14 pastured flocks across the country and had them tested at an accredited laboratory. The results were compared to official US Department of Agriculture data for commercial eggs. Results showed the pastured eggs contained an amazing:
- 1/3 less cholesterol than commercial eggs
- 1/4 less saturated fat
- 2/3 more vitamin A
- 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
- 7 times more beta carotene
Full results of the tests are available in the October/November 2007 issue of Mother Earth News, or on their website at http://www.MotherEarthNews.com/eggs. Check Eatwild's Pastured Products Directory to find free-range eggs near you.
Eggs from free-range hens are higher in folic acid and vitamin B12
Now there's another good reason to purchase eggs from pastured poultry farmers: you may be getting more folic acid and vitamin B12, two very important vitamins. This information comes from a British study published in 1974. At the time, British consumers were concerned about the trend toward factory farming. Specifically, they thought factory eggs might not be as nutritious as eggs from free-ranging birds. An elaborate study confirmed their suspicions. The eggs from free-range hens contained significantly more folic acid and vitamin B12, as you can see by the graph below.
The researchers also looked for differences in the fatty acid content of the eggs but did not find any. Now we know why. In the 1970s, little was known about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, so the researchers didn't even bother to look for them in the eggs.
(A. Tolan et al, "Studies on the Composition of Food, The chemical composition of eggs produced under battery, deep litter and free-range conditions." Br. J. Nutrition, (1974) 31:185.)
Pastured Poultry Get a Bounty of Vitamin E from Grass
Standard poultry feed is supplemented with small amounts of vitamin E. But as you can see by the graph below, it doesn't come close to the bounty of vitamin E that chickens glean from fresh pasture. This vitamin E gets passed on to the consumer. An egg from a pastured hen has 30 percent more vitamin E than the kind you buy in the supermarket.
(Lopez-Bote et al, "Effect of free-range feeding on omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-tocopherol content and oxidative stability of eggs." Animal Feed Science and Technology, 1998. 72:33-40.)
Egg yolks are the richest known source of lutein and zeaxanthin, essential vitamins not found in your multi-vitamin tablet
Eggs are gaining new respect from nutritionists, partly for their abundance of two carotenes --- lutein and zeaxanthin. These antioxidant vitamins are essential for the protection of the macula, an area of the retina that provides our best central vision. Eggs are the richest known source. "Macular degeneration," the term for damage to this area of the retina, is the leading cause of blindness in people over 55 years of age. Lutein and zeaxanthin protect the macula from the destructive effects of light. The deeper the yellow-orange color of yolks, the more lutein and zeaxanthin they contain and the more eye-protection they offer.
There is also new evidence linking lutein and zeaxanthin with a lower risk of colon cancer. According to a recent study, "Of all the carotenoids investigated, only lutein and zeaxanthin showed a protective effect against colon cancer, with an enhanced effect in younger people."
(Slattery, M. L., Benson, J., Curtin, K., Ma, K. N., Schaeffer, D., and Potter, J. D. (2000). Am J Clin Nutr 71, 575-82.)
Medical "experts" promulgate the myth that eggs from pastured poultry are no better than supermarket eggs
Many people turn to internet websites for their health information, and few sites are as highly regarded as the Mayo Clinic Health Oasis site which professes to offer "Reliable information for a healthier life." (http://www.mayohealth.org/index.htm) In a recent posting, the Mayo Clinic experts proclaimed, "Whether hens are raised free-range or in cages has no effect on the nutrients in the eggs they lay," and, then later on in the same article, "Feed and yolk color don't alter the nutritive content of the egg."
The experts should be more thorough in their research. As you will see by the posts below and by reading Why Grassfed Is Best!, eggs from pastured poultry are higher in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and vitamin A. Meanwhile, they are lower in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. In addition, there is a direct relationship between feed, yolk color, and the nutrient content of the egg. The more orange the yolk, the higher the level of health-enhancing carotenoids. Compared to supermarket eggs, eggs from pastured poultry are a vivid yellow/orange?proof of a richer store of disease-fighting carotenes.
(Bornstein, S. and I. Bartov (1966). "Studies on egg yolk pigmentation. I. A comparison between visual scoring of yolk color and colorimetric assay of yolk carotenoids." Poult Sci 45(2): 287-96.)
How researchers determine what we eat
When animals are removed from their natural habitat, they are at the mercy of humans for everything they eat. Regrettably, very little research is aimed at recreating what the animals would normally glean in the wild. Instead, the goal is to create the lowest cost diet that will maintain the highest possible production levels. This "least cost production" mentality will prevail as long as consumers remain ignorant of the many compromises involved.
For example, a team of researchers determined that "the vitamin E requirement norm of laying hens for consumer egg production is achieved at a vitamin E content of 7 mg/kg laying hen feed. The supplement of synthetic antioxidant is unnecessary." By contrast, pastured poultry have the luxury of foraging for greens that have as much as 200 mg/kg of vitamin E. This extra helping of vitamin E may not increase egg production, but it does yield healthier eggs for the consumer. Savvy consumers are becoming more aware of these invisible differences.
(Richter, G., I. Rodel, et al. (1985). "Evaluation of laying-hen feed with varied vitamin E and antioxidant supplementation.." Arch Tierernahr 35(10): 707-14.)